Executive Summary of the American Heart Association and American Thoracic Society Joint Guidelines for Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension

Abstract

Although pulmonary hypertension (PH) contributes significantly to poor outcomes in diverse pediatric diseases, approaches toward the care of children with PH have been limited by the lack of consensus guidelines from experts in the field. In a joint effort from the American Heart Association and American Thoracic Society, a committee of experienced clinicians was formed to systematically identify, synthesize, and appraise relevant evidence and then to formulate evidence-based recommendations regarding the diagnosis and management of pediatric PH. This brief report is an executive summary of the officially approved guidelines developed by the committee, highlighting a few key recommendations regarding the care of children with PH. Guidelines and the rationale for grading the strength of each recommendation are included in the online supplement.